Turkey

20 Aug 2021; MEMO: President Tayyip Erdogan yesterday urged European countries to take responsibility for migrants coming from Afghanistan, adding Turkey had no intention of becoming "Europe's migrant storage unit" amid turmoil in the country after the Taliban's takeover, Reuters reported.

19 Aug 2021; MEMO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he backs a peaceful solution for the Tigray conflict and proposed he operate as mediator, news agencies reported following his meeting with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed yesterday.

The conflict in the Ethiopian Tigray region has led to the death and displacement of tens of thousands and left millions hungry.

TATVAN, Turkey (AP) — Fearing a new refugee crisis, Turkey is sending soldiers to reinforce its border with Iran in order to stop a potential influx of Afghans fleeing the Taliban insurgency.

Irregular arrivals are already up as Afghans who fled weeks and months ago show up at Turkey’s rugged border area after a long trek across Iran. A group of Afghans encountered by The Associated Press near the border said they had deserted the Afghan military and fled the country as the Taliban offensive accelerated.

17 Aug 2021; MEMO: Turkey will begin to administer a fourth dose of a COVID-19 vaccine for those who received two doses of China's Sinovac inoculation in order to meet European standards which do not recognise the drug.

The fourth dose will be made available for those who have already received two doses of the Sinovac and one dose of the Pzifer/BioNTech jabs, the Health Ministry said yesterday.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Rescue workers in Turkey kept up the search Tuesday for 34 people still missing after severe floods ravaged parts of the country’s Black Sea coast, with excavators clearing the sludge and building wreckage that was left behind.

At least 77 people were killed after torrential rains battered Turkey’s northwestern Black Sea provinces on Aug. 11, causing floods that demolished homes and bridges, swept away cars and blocked access to numerous roads.

15 Aug 2021; MEMO: Pakistan has a vital duty to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan, where conflicts have intensified recently, the Turkish president said on Sunday, reports Anadolu Agency.

Speaking at a ship launching ceremony as part of the Pakistan MILGEM Corvette Project in Istanbul, Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated Pakistan on its 75th day of independence.

14 Aug 2021; MEMO: Turkey's iconic Ephesus Theatre will reopen its doors for art-lovers following a three-year break due to restoration works and coronavirus, Anadolu reports.

The ancient theatre will host the 4th International Ephesus Opera and Ballet Festival.

BOZKURT, Turkey, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Flash floods that have swept through towns in the Turkish Black Sea region have killed 58 people, authorities said on Sunday, in the second natural disaster to strike Turkey this month.

The floods brought chaos to northern provinces just as authorities were declaring wildfires had been brought under control after raging through southern coastal regions for two weeks.

ISTANBUL (AP) — The death toll from severe floods and mudslides in coastal Turkey has climbed to at least 40, the country’s emergency and disaster agency said Saturday.

Torrential rains that pounded the Black Sea provinces of Bartin, Kastamonu and Sinop on Wednesday caused flooding that demolished homes, severed at least five bridges, swept away cars and rendered numerous roads unpassable. Turkish disaster agency AFAD said 34 people were killed in Kastamonu and six in Sinop.

13 Aug 2021; MEMO: Turkey and Sudan today set a target of $2 billion trade in the next five years, Turkey's vice president said.

"Our trade with Sudan reached $480 million in 2020," Fuat Oktay said during a Turkey-Sudan round-table meeting in the capital Ankara.

Mining is an important area in Turkey's commercial cooperation with Sudan, he added.